Fawn Penn and Delia Pelli-Walbert are pleased to share Face to Face, a collection of newsculptural work at 2950 N. Sheridan Rd. The installation consists of ceramic works fromboth artists, many taking the form of tiles and tablets. The material solidity of these“paintings” grants them an air of prophecy. Penn presents apothecary vessels with snake oil cure-all proclamations, Pelli-Walbert works from digital artifacts; wikipedia notices and ai-autofill. An undercurrent of anxiety runs through the textual influences, often belying an unmet wish or concealed vulnerability.

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Penn and Pelli-Walbert credit this body of work to their decade-long friendship and mutual artistic development. Together the duo run Old Friends gallery in Roscoe village, curating contemporary practices with an increased focus on material application. They share a habit of collecting found phrases which has often served as a conduit of communication.

 

Presenting a dual exhibition of their work for the first time, Penn and

Pelli-Walbert make evident the aesthetic relationships developed through a shared coming-of-age.

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Fawn Penn (b. 1998, Milwaukee, WI) is an artist and organizer working in Chicago. Fawn

co-founded The Digs Chicago and founded Old Friends. They work between the ceramic

studio and gallery, aiming to provide artists resources and community. In 2023, Fawn

made the Forbes 30 Under 30 Local list. Fawn is a 2020 recipient of the Center for Craft

Windgate-Lamar Fellowship and graduated from the School of the Art Institute of

Chicago with a BFA in Ceramics in 2020. They have exhibited at Roots & Culture,

Chicago; T. Mari Gallery, Chicago; and VSG Contemporary, Chicago, among others.

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Delia Pelli-Walbert (b. 1999, New York, NY) lives and works between New York, NY, and

Chicago, IL. Her sculptural practice cultivates a relationship between past and present,

drawing from familial and imagined histories of land and material. Delia also serves as the

Director at Old Friends gallery. She received a BFA from New York University and has

exhibited at various galleries including 81 Leonard Gallery, New York; 80 WSE, New York;

ArtsClub DTLA, Los Angeles; Monira Gallery at Mana Contemporary, Jersey City; and

VSG Contemporary, Chicago, IL.